Uconn

Daniels shows some life against Rutgers Huskies move to 24-6 BY ED DAIGNEAULT REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

STORRS -- If UConn is to make a March run of consequence, it is obviously going to depend on Shabazz Napier.

It would also help if a couple of players who have faded of late return to what they once were. DeAndre Daniels might have started to do that in Wednesday night's victory against Rutgers at Gampel Pavilion. Omar Calhoun appears like he might never find his form this season.

Daniels had seven points and six rebounds, his best scoring total in the last four games. The 21 minutes he played were his most in the last three games. Calhoun played a mere six minutes, missing all three of his shot attempts. Calhoun has not made a shot since the Feb. 6 loss at Cincinnati.

"DeAndre's not been able to get his groove but he had a solid game tonight," UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. "Hopefully that will get him to another level. A lot of guys have been struggling. I know there's a breakthrough coming. They just have to keep playing."

Daniels hadn't really impacted the three games prior to Wednesday night and it took him a long time to do it against Rutgers. But his block of a Wally Judge shot in the last minute with UConn ahead by a 67-63 score was big.

He ended up forcing a tie-up with the block, giving UConn possession. He made one of two free throws on the other end to give UConn a bit of distance.

Calhoun's struggles are nearing legendary status. He has missed his last 11 shots and has seen his minutes cut drastically. He has become an almost sympathetic figure.

"He's going to get out of the slump," senior Niels Giffey said. "He had the surgery on his hips over the summer and coming back from that is hard. He hadn't played for almost half a year. I'm just trying to keep him motivated and engaged.

"He's just got to keep working on it."

Coach Olander?: Tyler Olander started the 2011 national title game and scored the game's first basket. Since then, his minutes have dipped drastically to a career-low nine per game this year, his senior season. To Olander's credit, he realized his role on the team and started to take on a new one rather than pout.

"I know we have pieces that we can make a good run in March, so I just saw a while back, What can I do? I'm not getting playing time so what can I do to help this team win?" Olander said. "I've been trying to help these younger guys be the best they can be so we've got the best team out there. I took a leadership role like that and it's been successful so far. So I just continue to help them."

It hasn't gone unnoticed to Ollie. He actually suggested that Olander might be unconsciously be preparing for a career in coaching.

"I think Tyler would be a hell of a coach just the way he's been observing everything," Ollie said. "I'm a point guard so I observe how he's treating the other guys that's pretty much taking his minutes. I've been in that role before. For him to embrace them and teach them the little nuances of the game is great."

Asked how Olander has changed, Ollie couldn't resist taking a light-hearted shot at the man who was caught rapping on YouTube and arrested in Florida last spring.

"He was in Florida, rapping," Ollie said. "He's not doing that stuff anymore."

Been awhile: Rutgers hasn't beaten UConn in Connecticut since an 84-77, three-overtime victory Jan. 8, 1977 at the Hartford Civic Center. Since then, the Scarlet Knights have lost 11 straight on UConn home courts.

Of course, there was also a long gap in the series from 1979-1996 when Rutgers joined the Big East. Current Rutgers head coach Eddie Jordan played in that 1977 game. The year before, Jordan helped lead Rutgers to the Final Four where it lost to Michigan in one semifinal.It was Rutgers' first loss of the year as it entered that Final Four at 31-0.

Most remember that Indiana also entered that Final Four unbeaten and won the national title, the last undefeated national champion.

Help: UConn needed to win its final two regular-season games – and get some help – to have a slight chance of moving out of the No. 4 or No. 5 seed for next week's American Athletic Conference Tournament in Memphis, Tenn.

To do it, the Huskies would have to reverse what has become a trend. They haven't won their last two regular-season games since the 2005-06 season.

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